At The Edge of the Universe, by Shaun David Hutchinson, will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The book follows Oswald Pinkerton, an extroverted sixteen-year-old boy who has been best friends with Thomas Rose, an introverted sixteen-year-old boy, since second grade. They were once inseparable to each other and became soulmates. One day, however, Tommy vanishes from everyone’s minds and memories except for Oswald’s, who still has vivid memories of his childhood companion. 

Oswald works at a bookstore, where now widowed Mrs. Petried takes care of the books and whatnot, and where Ms. Rose (Thomas’s Mother) works on getting her GED at the age of 35. Oswald is always reminiscing on the times Thomas and him had together, but Ms. Rose always gets clammy and runs away. Is she suffering from amnesia, or is she just simply refusing to remember what she once had?

While Oswald is still finishing school, he partners up with Calvin, a former valedictorian who wasted his life away with one secret he seemingly can not run away from, for a science project. As Calvin and Oswald work together they find more in common than they thought. Calvin takes advantage of Oswald’s vulnerableness and Calvin ends up making more mistakes on the way. Oswald can not seem to run away from the fact that he has betrayed his former “boyfriend”, and does not want to face the fact that he could one day face him, and worries that if that happens Thomas will hold a grudge.

Oswald has an interesting theory involving quantum physics and it goes like this: the universe is slowing shrinking due to the atoms diminishing one by one. He applies this theory to Thomas in that maybe he just fell into a void, and if the universe collapses enough, Thomas will come back. This theory, however, seems to be more than just that as the world shrinks.

Hutchinson has a captivating way of making you read between the lines. He hides hints and calming pieces of assurance to keep the story flowing just how you would want it to. The words and details that he puts into the chapters paint a vibrant, intense movie in your head. The characters, the environment, the objects and the storyline all have a purpose and serve as vital parts of the story.

This book is aimed for mature teenagers between ages 15 to 20, due to sexual and graphic content. The language is not suited for younger audiences.